Nothing Up My Sleeve

by Diana Lopez

  Coins Across—

  a trick where coins magically travel from one hand to the other

  Z AND DOMINIC SPENT the rest of the afternoon writing clever patter for the mentalism trick, but every time Dominic said the words, he sounded like someone reading the ingredients on a Froot Loops box.

  Z could only shake his head. “You sound like a robot. Put some feeling into it.”

  “I’ll try,” Dominic said. “But doing the routine while saying the words is hard. It’s like trying to sync two separate parts of my brain.”

  Z nodded even though he had no idea what his friend was talking about.

  After a few more rehearsals, the boys decided to leave. On their way out, Ariel asked if they were coming by tomorrow. They said maybe, even though they planned to come every day till the convention.

  And the convention was all they talked about during their walk home. It was only ten days away! Dominic had printed out the program, so he showed Z the lectures being offered and the list of magicians who were going to be in the stage show. These guys could levitate, perform telekinesis, and make tigers disappear.

  “I can’t wait!” Dominic said, all excited.

  Z felt excited, too, but when Dominic turned in to his apartment complex and left Z alone, reality hit. Z did not have enough money, and even if he worked 24-7, he wouldn’t earn enough to register for the convention and the competition. At this point, he didn’t care if he won or lost. He just wanted to compete. Even if he came in last, he’d still be ahead of the person who didn’t try, but right now, he was that person. “Last again!” he shouted to the sky.

  As soon as he reached his house and stepped inside, his brothers looked up from their video game. “Hey, zillionaire,” they teased. So that was the new z-word. If only it were true.

  As usual, the house was full of people. Z’s father and brother-in-law inspected a ceiling fan that rattled too much. Copycat set the table, and Smiley chopped veggies for a salad. Meanwhile, his oldest sister and his mom made french fries and catfish. He spotted Bossy in the kitchen, too, but she wasn’t cooking or mixing or chopping anything. Instead, she was shouting orders that everyone ignored. Z’s cousin stood in a corner and practiced the trombone. He was going to be in the high school marching band, and since he’d be playing at football games, he practiced as loudly as he could. His trombone was louder than the sound effects from Z’s brothers’ Need for Speed video games, louder than the crackling grease in the kitchen, louder than the dog barking for scraps, and louder than the five or six conversations happening at once. All this noise was giving Z a headache, so he went to his room.

  Z knew he was supposed to love his brothers and sisters, but part of him wished he was an illusionist who could make them disappear so he could have the house and everything in it—the food, the space, but mostly his parents’ (and the dog’s) attention—all to himself.

  He shut the door to his room, plopped on the bed, and stared at the ceiling. Then he took his cards from his pocket and mindlessly practiced a sleight called “the pass.” It let him secretly move a card to the top or bottom of the deck. Z practiced passes the way some people popped their knuckles or doodled. One pass, two passes, three. It calmed him down. He loved the feel of the cards, the slight breeze as he riffled them, the sweeping sound they made as they slid against one another.

  Z studied the cards, did one more pass, and then rolled over and stuck them under his pillow. This whole summer was just a silly dream, and he was stupid to think that he’d have a chance to compete at the convention.

  After a while, he heard his mom calling. Dinner was ready. He headed to the main room, expecting a long line for food. But when he got there, everyone was already sitting down, even his mom! Then he noticed other weird things, too.

  • Weird thing #1: When the whole family gathered—like on July Fourth—there wasn’t enough room, so he had to sit at the “baby table” with Boxer Boy and Copycat because they were the youngest. And it was a lousy fold-up table with fold-up chairs that gave you a numb butt if you sat in them too long. This time, however, Smiley was sitting in the uncomfortable chair.

  • Weird thing #2: When the whole family gathered—like on Thanksgiving—his dad sat at the head of the table and Z’s brother-in-law sat at the other head of the table. This time, however, his brother-in-law sat off to the side. That meant that his normal seat was available, and since it was a place of honor, it couldn’t possibly be for Z—yet it was.

  • Weird thing #3: When the whole family gathered—like for the Super Bowl—everybody stood in line for food, oldest to youngest, which meant Z got the skinniest cut of meat and the hardest crust of bread. But this time, a giant plate of food waited for him. And not only did the plate have a lot of food, but it also had the most golden french fries, the thickest fish fillet, and the moistest square of corn bread. Everyone knew his mother always burned the edges, but this slice came from the middle of the pan.

  Z expected a prank to reveal itself, but nothing happened. His whole family just smiled at him. So he got all self-conscious. He double-checked his zipper in case his fly was open, and then he wiped his nose in case he had boogers. But everything was fine, so what was his crazy family up to?

  “What are y’all looking at?” he asked.

  “You are so cute,” Smiley said. “I have a friend who said that if you were a puppy, she’d totally adopt you.”

  “Woof, woof,” Z said with no enthusiasm, but everyone laughed as if he’d told the funniest joke. “Okay, this is weird. What’s going on?”

  “Sientate,” his father said, still giggling.

  Z went to the head of the table, and when he pushed back the chair, he saw an envelope on the cushion. His family always dumped mail on the table, so he expected an electric bill or an advertisement, but this envelope had “For Ezio (the zillionaire)” written on it.

  “What’s this?” he said, picking it up. It was thick. Maybe the prank was in the envelope. Maybe his brothers had stuffed one of those springs in there, the kind shaped like snakes. They sold them at Conjuring Cats. Like a jack-in-the-box, the coiled snake jumped out when you opened the container.

  “Hurry! Open it,” Bossy said.

  Z carefully opened the envelope, tilting it away in case a snake jumped out. But when he broke the seal, nothing happened. He peeked inside, shaking his head because he couldn’t believe what he saw. There were twenties, tens, and lots of fives and ones. The envelope was full of money! He started to count. With the money he’d saved on his own, he had almost $500, and since his friends had already offered to share a room, the money was enough for the convention!

  He looked at his family. They still had goofy smiles on their faces.

  His dad said, “It’s a gift from all of us. Everybody pitched in.”

  “Even me,” his cousin said.

  “Your brothers and sisters came up with the idea,” his mom explained.

  “Yeah,” Copycat said. “We came up with the idea after we saw how hard you were working. You haven’t played at all this summer. Work, work, work. That’s all you do.”

  “But where did you get the money?” Z looked at Boxer Boy, Copycat, and his cousin because they didn’t have jobs.

  “We collected cans,” Boxer Boy said. “Every day, we rode our bikes around the neighborhood and picked up cans. Then we took them to the recycling plant, and they paid us.”

  “This town is full of litterbugs,” Copycat said. “So we made lots of money.”

  “The rest of us saved money from our jobs,” Toenail said.

  “We got something else for you,” Z’s oldest sister added. She reached under the table and pulled out a large bag from JCPenney. Because she was at the other end of the table, nearly everyone touched it as they passed it along to Z, so it truly felt like a gift from all of them. Z couldn’t wait to peek inside, and when he did, he discovered black slacks, a black dress shirt, a red tie, and a new leather belt.

  “No more hand-me-downs,”
his mother said. “If you’re going to compete, you need to look like a professional.”

  Z’s heart raced with excitement. This extra money meant he could go to the convention. He could do the Ambitious Card in front of a real audience. Ten minutes ago, he was broke, but now he was rich! He thought about a popular magic trick called Coins Across, how quarters magically traveled from one hand to the other. That’s exactly what was happening here, with money moving from his family’s hands to his. Then he remembered the day Señor Surprise showed him the Miser’s Dream. It made total sense now. Sometimes the empty can was actually full. Sometimes money did appear out of nowhere!

  “I don’t know what to say,” Z admitted.

  “Try ‘thank you,’” Bossy suggested.

  But Z didn’t say thanks. Instead, he showed his gratitude by going around to hug everyone. It took a long time, since there were so many people. When he had finished, he took his seat at the head of the table and began eating from the heaping plate of food. That’s when he realized that for once, he was first—and he was first where it really mattered: his home.

  impromptu act—

  when a magician performs on the spot with whatever items are nearby

  DOMINIC STEPPED INTO HIS apartment, quickly said hello (his mom was reading a book called The Power of Positive Thinking), and rushed to his room, making sure to close the door. He needed to make a plan—not for the magic competition, but for his parents. They were oil and water, like Mr. Garza explained, and because oil and water didn’t mix, Dominic could never get them to talk. It was driving him nuts! He wanted to spend time with his entire family, so he had to get his parents to cooperate—even if it was only for one day.

  Dominic turned on his computer and looked for articles and statistics about kids with divorced parents. Maybe he could make a chart with the benefits of…

  He stopped himself. When will I stop acting like a textbook? he wondered. Showing my parents a chart with a bunch of numbers and articles is the worst idea in the world!

  Nope. He had to figure out another way to persuade his parents to talk. Maybe… he tapped his desk… maybe he could make them feel sorry for him.

  He went to the mirror and pouted, scrunched up his forehead, and drooped his eyes, but he couldn’t make himself look like those sad puppies on the adopt-a-pet commercials. He’d have to cry. How hard could it be? After all, Maria Elena could make herself cry in less than a minute. So Dominic tried forcing out tears, but nothing happened. It didn’t make sense. Hadn’t he read that half the body was made of water? So where were the tears? Why didn’t they gush out when you most needed them?

  Maybe he had to think of sad things—like in every superhero movie when the good guy’s best friend gets shot, or learning that the video game console he just bought after months of saving his allowance was useless because of a newer, better model. These were very sad things, but Dominic still had no tears.

  He thought about chopping onions or eating a dozen jalapeños, but that required a trip to the kitchen. His mom would see him for sure and realize that he was fake-crying. So he went to the restroom and rubbed soap in his eyes. They burned a little and a few tears leaked out, but mostly, he just blinked a lot. Who knew crying was harder than chewing gum while rapidly reciting tongue twisters like “If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?”

  Dominic threw up his hands. I’m overthinking this. I just have to jump in like a magician performing an impromptu act.

  He returned to his room and Skyped his dad, and when his dad answered, Dominic said, “I’ve got something very important to say, so promise me you won’t hang up, no matter what.”

  “Did something happen? Is everything okay?”

  “Just promise me,” Dominic pleaded.

  “Sure, I promise.”

  “Good. Now hold on a minute. I’ll be right back.”

  Dominic rushed out before his dad could reply. He went straight to his mom and said, “I have to show you something in my room. It’s very important, so promise me you’ll take a look.”

  She put down her book and started to stand. “What happened? Did you break something?”

  “No, I didn’t break anything. Do you promise to stay in my room when you see what I have to show you?”

  “Yes,” she answered. “I promise.”

  She followed him, but when she got to the doorway and saw Dominic’s dad on the computer, she stepped back.

  “What are you up to?” she said.

  And his dad said, “That’s what I’d like to know.”

  Dominic grabbed his mom’s arm and pulled her straight to the chair by his desk. She sat down, but she swiveled away from the computer screen. She wouldn’t look at his dad, and his dad wouldn’t look at her. Instead, they both stared at Dominic.

  “Here’s the thing,” Dominic began. “No matter what I do, you can’t stand being in the same room at the same time. Even now, you’re avoiding each other.” His mom sighed, and his dad looked down. “When you drop me off at Burger King in Refugio, you can’t even sit with me to eat french fries. When I have a program at school, you take turns going, instead of going together. And if it’s you picking me up at the house, Dad, you text to let me know you’re in the parking lot because you don’t want to knock on the door and risk seeing Mom, which is ridiculous because every time Mom thinks you’re coming over, she disappears.” He glanced at his mom. “You know it’s true, Mom. And I can never tell both of you a story. When something exciting happens, I have to tell one of you. Then I have to repeat the entire story again, and it’s never as good or as interesting as the first time I tell it. And I know that you and me are a family, Mom.” Dominic turned to his dad. “And I know that you and everyone in Corpus are my family, but my families are never together. So I feel all divided. I just wish… I wish…” He was getting a little choked up. Who knew that talking about his feelings would bring out the tears. “I wish you weren’t oil and water!”

  “Oil and water?” his parents repeated, though not in exact unison.

  “Yes, because oil and water just. Don’t. Mix!” His parents stared at him, stunned. This was the first time Dominic had ever raised his voice. “Don’t look at me,” he said. “Look at each other. Say something!”

  After a few seconds, his dad took a deep breath and then spoke to his mom. “So… how are things going?”

  Dominic’s mom hesitated, but then she answered. “Okay, I guess.”

  There was a long, awkward pause.

  “Been anywhere interesting lately?” his dad asked.

  “Like where?” his mom replied.

  “I don’t know. Like a concert or a movie. Have you gone to any interesting vacation spots?”

  “And when am I supposed to go on vacation?” Dominic’s mom crossed her arms.

  “When Dominic’s in Corpus. Didn’t you go on any trips when you had some time to yourself?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Do you really think I had time to myself? Think about it. When am I supposed to go on vacation? I have to work!”

  His dad shook his head. “Why do you always take things so seriously?” he asked.

  “Why do you always take things so lightly?” she replied.

  And then they started discussing who worked harder and who was more responsible and who wasted time and who never relaxed, and all of a sudden, their discussion turned into an argument, so Dominic stomped out, slamming the door behind him. He was so mad! He almost didn’t care if they talked to each other, especially if it meant they were going to fight.

  He went to the bathroom and splashed water on his face. Then he stared at his reflection. His eyes were red, this time not because of soap. As he looked at himself, he noticed other things, too. He got the shape of his eyes from his dad, and the shape of his nose from his mom. He got his hair color from his dad, and his skin color from his mom. Maybe oil and water didn’t mix when you were doing card tricks, but they had definitely mixed in him, and since both
of his parents loved him, that meant they had to love each other, too. Why couldn’t they see that? They were the adults. They were supposed to be smarter than him.

  He needed a glass of water, so he headed to the kitchen. On the way, he stopped at his bedroom door. His mom was still in there, but since the door was closed, he couldn’t hear anything. He didn’t know if his parents were talking or if they had hung up already. He decided to leave them alone, but the suspense was killing him. He drank water. He put away some dishes. He went to the front door and peeked out the peephole, then to the balcony to look at the trees. He paced and nervously popped his knuckles. Twenty minutes had passed! He had to know what was going on, so he barged into his room.

  As soon as he stepped in, he saw his stepmom and Maria Elena on the computer screen. “Dominic!” his little sister called.

  “We’re getting to know each other,” his mom explained.

  “Meanwhile,” his stepmom said, “your dad’s making arrangements so we can all watch you at the magic competition.”

  “Really?” Dominic said. “Everybody?”

  “Yup!” Maria Elena clapped her hands. “And we’re getting matching T-shirts and making posters and coming up with cheers!”

  “Well, I don’t know about all that,” his stepmom said. “Why don’t we wear Dominic’s favorite color to show our support?”

  “Is his favorite color purple?”

  Dominic said, “No, I like black or red.”

  Maria Elena frowned, but after a moment, she decided that she could wear a red T-shirt if it would help Dominic win. A few minutes later, his dad returned, and everyone had to reposition themselves so the camera could catch all their faces.

  “Did you hear the good news?” his dad asked.

  “Yeah. Everyone’s going to Houston to see me perform.”

  “How about the special handshake,” his dad said, and even though they couldn’t touch through the computer, they went through all the motions. Then, his dad got serious. “We’re sorry, son. Your mom and I had no idea you were mad at us. You deserve to feel like you have a whole family.”